Highly transparent sapphire micro-grating structures with large diffuse light scattering

The highly transparent micro-grating structures (MGSs) of sapphire substrate with large diffuse light scattering were theoretically and experimentally studied. From the finite difference time domain simulation, it was found that the degree of diffuse light scattering is strongly dependent on the size of grating structures. For a highly transparent property, the sapphire MGSs were optimally designed by the theoretical calculations using the rigorous coupled wave analysis method. The order of taper, geometry (i.e., width and height), and pitch length of MGSs were optimized to maximize their average total transmittance over a wide wavelength range of 300-1800 nm. Additionally, the influence of the deposition of low-refractive index material such as SiO2 onto sapphire MGSs on the transmittance characteristics was investigated. To verify experimentally the feasibility, the sapphire MGSs were fabricated by the conventional lithography and dry etching processes. The SiO2 deposited sapphire MGS exhibited a further increase in the total transmittance due to its relatively more graded refractive index profile while maintaining a significantly enhanced diffuse light scattering. The experimental data were in a reasonable agreement with the theoretical results. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America